My constant blogging battle :: I'm behind

Well I have TONS of stuff to blog about! Which often becomes the case in my blogging adventures. So I am giving you a list O blog stuff…
.:: LENT
Lent was really good for me this year. It’s kinda hard to say “lent was good” because in nature it’s a hard, self denying, kinda time but in context Lent was good this year.

I don’t really have a list of “things I learned” but I can testify to the fact that I grew during this time of Lent. I think the goal of self-denial for me is purge certain desires and grow in others. My goal in taking on something is to cultivate new desires and spiritual rhythms. I think God help this to happen in my life. And the goal in self denial is decrease my desire for other things. I also think God help this to happen in my life as well. So… Lent was good!

.:: Holy Week
Holy week was really busy, with church stuff and other stuff. But like Lent it was really good. Our church (Redeemer Nashville) had TONS of stuff going on, everyday pretty much. And things we were able to participate in were really rich, really meaning, just really good! And our Easter service was the best Easter service I have been to in a long while. The Spirit was incredibly evident, the liturgy was beautiful and the message was solid. No alter call but I let that one slide. ;-)

.:: 1 year
Andrea and I hit our 1 year of marriage milestone! VICTORY!!! At first I didn’t think the 1 year mark would be that big of a deal but I wrong! This has been a hard year for both Andrea and i. LOTS of crap has gone on and lots of stress has come our way. And did I mention it was our first year of marriage. Toss all that into the mix and you come out with a pretty challenging year. Probably one of the hardest years of my life. But I have very thankful to have had my beautiful wife along side of me through it. I’m not sure what I would have done without her! She has been a HUGE blessing and encouragement for me. Like I said, I am very thankful!

.:: Chicago
For our anniversary Andrea and I went to Chicago! It was amazing! Some pictures of our room are posted on fackbook and flickr! I went on Priceline and did the name your own price action, $75 bucks for a 4 star hotel right on Michigan Ave. can’t beat that! Did I mention it was AWESOME!!! The only thing that sucked was that we ended up having to pay $50 a night for parking. Almost as much as the room! That’s kinda killed our budget for the weekend but it was awesome anyway!
We did a little shopping (heaven for andrea) We did a lot of eating (heaven for me) and we did even more walking! Chicago is the best city in the US hands down. Admittedly there are a couple cities I haven’t been to but I doubt they beat Chicago!
Happy anniversary to us! I have posted some pics on my flickr and fackbook, check em' out!

.:: Good Shepard Lutheran Youth Retreat
I was able to spend last weekend with the students from Good Shepard Lutheran Church, RENEW was the retreat, spiritual rhythm was the topic. I thought it went really well. It was Andrea’s first retreat with me. AWESOME!

.:: The Loop Nashville
I spoke at young adult gathering here in Nashville a couple weeks ago, The Loop Nashville. It was really fun! I am hoping for the opportunity to do that more often. The Loop is a great place and I would really love to plug in there from time to time on Monday night. So, if you around Nashville on a Monday night you should come check it out! The Loop Nashville -or- myspace/theloopnashville